Electronic mail, or email, is a form of communication typically in text that permits multiple individuals to send, read, and respond to messages at times convenient to each particular individual in a distribution list with gaps of time (minutes, hours, days, months, etc.) permitted between each sent/received message. A written record of the communication thread (i.e., the sequence of communications) typically includes the most recent communication followed by the next most recent communication, and so forth. Thus, such a record is presented in reverse chronological order.
Video email or messaging is a related form of communication that can be sent and received with multimedia client devices such as smartphones, tablets, computers, set-top boxes and the like devices possessing cameras, microphones, and video playing functionality. Video email or messaging may also be referred to as AV or multimedia email or messaging (i.e., contains audio, video and/or other media) and can provide a video clip.
Video emails are similar to traditional text emails in that multiple individuals are able to send, read, and respond to messages at times convenient to each particular individual with significant gaps of time (minutes, hours, days, months, etc.) being permitted therebetween. This is in contrast to video calling, video chat, video-phoning, group video calling, group video chat, and video-conferencing which are visual forms of communication between multiple participants at different locations communicating simultaneously in substantially real-time. The use of video email relieves a user from typing long paragraph messages and permits use of quick to compose and easy to convey AV messages. However, organizing video email communications can be challenging and is not as straight forward as organizing traditional text emails or messaging in reverse chronological order.
By way of example, a sender of a video email may compose a video message using a multimedia client device and may send the video email to one or more recipients. When a particular recipient receives the original AV message and wants to respond to the original video email with a reply video email, the recipient can compose a new video message clip or use an existing video clip which then will be included (as a video link or with an inserted multimedia file) in the reply email. Thus, the reply video message is typically a video clip that is separate from the original video clip message and is sent to the original sender and/or to other recipients present in the original email distribution list in the form of a separate reply. Accordingly, the original video clip and the reply video clip are separate and, when the recipient plays or views the email chain, the two videos are played separately as entirely distinct video clips with no correlation provided therebetween, except that both video clips exist in the same email chain and may or may not concern related topics of interest.
In the above example, an AV email recipient typically has no other option but to view an entire chain of AV emails to fully appreciate the conversation even if only interested in parts thereof. Thus, the user is required to view each AV email individually for purposes of grasping the entirety of the conversation, instead of simply viewing the last email for a record of all conversations as can be accomplished, for instance, with textual email chains. Of course, complexity and time investment of the AV email chain review increases directly with the number of reply video responses and the number of recipients responding within the AV email chain. Further, multiple reply/answer AV messages which are sent in response to different parts of a single AV message cannot be organized in any particular manner. For instance, if many recipients actively reply/respond to many sub-parts of different AV messages, it is difficult to readily determine an exact point to which each reply/response is directed due to the conventional serial nature of organizing video emails.